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Bulls Tap the Brakes After Fed Announcement, GDP News

"Today was all about the economy," quipped Schaeffer's Senior
Equity Analyst Joe Bell. "Meanwhile," he added, "the Federal
Reserve said its asset repurchase program would continue, but that
did little to stop the slight decline in the broad market." The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
spent the majority of the day in the red and settled near its
intraday low, with the 14,000 level still beckoning overhead.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including
:

Senior Trading Analyst Bryan Sapp is intrigued by the price
action in a few gauges for "
risk appetite
."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
was all over the map today, but went into the red for good
following this afternoon's release of the Federal Open Market
Committee report and decision to keep short-term interest rates
near zero. It was only the third down day in 15 sessions for the
blue-chip index, which fell to 13,910.42, down 44 points, or 0.3%.
Only nine members of the 30-company Dow advanced, led by The Boeing
Company (
BA
), which jumped 1.3% to close at $74.59 following a
strong earnings result
. At the bottom of the 21 decliners was General Electric Company (
GE
), which dropped 1.2% to close at $22.23.

Other indices also fell, with the
S&P 500 Index (SPX)
dropping nearly 6 points to close at 1,501.96, down 0.4%. But the
SPX stayed above the key 1,500 level for the fourth straight day
and was down for only the second time in 11 sessions. And the
Nasdaq Composite (COMP)
fell to 3,142.31, shedding 11 points, or 0.4%.

The
CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)
reflected all the uncertainty, climbing 7.6% to close at 14.32
-hitting its highest point since the first two sessions of
2013.

A Trader's Take
:

"Aside from the GDP and Fed news, Amazon.com (
AMZN
) released earnings last night that were well received by the
Street today," noted Bell. "While the news didn't lift the broad
market, some of the tech-heavy indices showed relative
strength."

3 Things to Know About Today's Market
:

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal
Reserve's policy-making body,
announced today
that it was keeping short-term interest rates at their current
low level near 0%. The FOMC also said it would continue to buy
bonds as part of its effort to further stimulate the economic
recovery, and that it was seeing improvement in the housing
sector. It said economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter
because of weather events such as Hurricane Sandy and other
transient issues.
(The New York Times)

The U.S Gross Domestic Product
fell by a 0.1% annual rate
in the fourth quarter of 2012, as reported by the Commerce
Department. It was the first such contraction since the second
quarter of 2009 (the official end of the Great Recession) and
compared to a growth rate of 3.1% in the third quarter of last
year. The number will be revised, however, two more times during
the next two months.
(CNNMoney)

Private employers
added 192,000 new jobs in January
, according to payroll processor ADP's monthly report. ADP also
cut its estimate of new December jobs to 185,000, down from the
previously reported 215,000.
(USA Today)

For a look at today's options movers and commodities
activity, head to page 2.

Commodities
:

Crude futures notched another new four-month high, dismissing a
larger-than-expected increase in U.S. inventories in favor of the
Fed statement, which spurred hopes for a continued
low-interest-rate environment. The March contract for oil rose 37
cents, or 0.4%, to $97.94 per barrel, its highest reading since
Sept. 14. Elsewhere, gold reacted positively to the surprise
contraction in the fourth-quarter GDP. February futures for the
yellow metal gained $19.10, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,679.90 per
ounce.

At the end of every market day, the staff at Schaeffer's
Investment Research reviews the trading day in detail, covering
major events and key market developments. Don't miss this
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